Cigarette packaging, method and device for the production thereof

ABSTRACT

In the case of a (soft) pack for cigarettes, the blank ( 10 ) made of paper or similar material is provided, adjacent to an end wall ( 16 ), with a multi-layered folding strip ( 21 ) running all the way round. In order that inner layers can be connected to outer, covering layers via glue—spot of glue ( 20 )—a round cutout ( 29 ) made by punching is provided, the spot of glue ( 20 ) being positioned in the region of said cutout. A special feature is constituted by the production of blanks ( 10 ) for such a pack.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.

The invention relates to a pack, in particular cigarette pack, having atleast one blank which encloses the pack contents, is made of foldablepackaging material, such as paper, film, cardboard or the like, is ofmulti-layered design in a sub-region and, as a result of folding, has aborder-side overlap, an inner folding tab being connected to an outerfolding tab by glue and the glue passing through a cutout in anintermediate tab. The invention also relates to a process for producingpacks and to an apparatus for carrying out the process.

The invention deals predominantly with packs configured as in WO00/10877. In the case of this pack, which comprises a single blank madeof paper or the like, a multi-layered folding strip, namely one which isformed on account of a Z-shaped fold, is arranged adjacent to an endwall. In the region of a narrow, upright side wall, there is alsooverlapping of the Z-fold. A cutout, which in the exemplary embodimentis triangular, is formed in the case of the known pack, and this makesis possible for an outer tab of the fold to be connected to an inner tabby glue, the glue being located in the region of a cutout inintermediate tabs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

The object of the invention is to develop further, and improve, packs ofthe type mentioned in the introduction, in particular to improve theconfiguration and production of cigarette packs configured as in WO00/10877.

In order to achieve this object, the pack according to the invention ischaracterized in that the formation in the blank or in the intermediatetab is bounded by a punch cut which is rounded overall.

A round, in particular elongate, for example (more or less) oval punchcut provides an opening or cutout which is favourable in respect of thetearing behaviour. Furthermore, such a cutout or opening can be easilyproduced by an appropriate punching tool.

A further special feature is that the piece of material formed duringpunching, rather than being disposed of as waste, is joined to the blankvia residual connection and removed from the region of the cutout bybeing folded over.

There is a specific process for producing packs or blanks withmulti-layered folding strips. According to the invention, the procedureis such that the cutout is made by punching in a continuous material webfor the production of the blanks and, thereafter, the folding strip,which runs in the longitudinal direction of the web, is formed in theregion of the successive cutouts. Finally, the blanks are severed fromthe material web, provided with cutouts and folding strip, thetransversely directed severing cut preferably being made in the regionof the cutout in order reliably to avoid the severing cut being offsetoutside the region of the border-side cutout.

If the punched segment remains connected to the material web viaresidual connections, the punched segment is rendered upright by aspecific measure, namely by material web being deflected, with theresult that it can be folded over by a, for example, stationary foldingelement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

Further special features of the invention are explained in more detailhereinbelow with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cigarette pack,

FIG. 2 shows, on an enlarged scale, a top, end region of the packaccording to FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows, on a further-enlarged scale, a vertical section through atop, end corner region of the pack according to FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 shows a horizontal section through the detail according to FIG.3, along section plane IV-IV,

FIG. 5 shows a material-web section for producing blanks,

FIG. 6 shows a blank severed from the material web according to FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 shows a schematic side view of a material-web section accordingto FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 shows, on a vastly enlarged scale, a detail of the material webaccording to FIG. 5 in the region of a punch cut,

FIG. 9 shows a finished blank without a folding strip, and

FIG. 10 shows the blank according to FIG. 9 once the folding strip hasbeen made.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.

The drawings deal with a (cigarette) pack essentially configured as inWO 00/10877. The cuboidal pack comprises a blank 10 made of paper orpaper-like material. The cuboidal pack forms a large-surface-area frontwall 11, a rear wall 12 located opposite the front wall, two narrowupright side walls 13, 14 and a base wall 15 and end wall 16.

The side wall 14 comprises two overlapping border strips of the blank10, namely a (relatively wide) outer strip 17 and a relatively narrowinner strip 18. The outer strip 17 and inner strip 18 are connected toone another, to be precise by adhesive bonding, specifically by spots ofglue 19, 20, in order to form the side wall 14.

The pack or the blank 10 thereof has a folding strip all the way round,to be precise a Z-fold strip 21. This is formed by a blank strip 22being folded in a Z-shaped manner. This blank strip is folded along anapproximately central Z-fold edge 23 such that three layers of the blank10 are located against one another in the region of the Z-fold strip 21.These three. layers are formed by an inner tab or inner leg 24, by anintermediate tab or intermediate leg 25 and by an outer tab or outer leg26. The relevant legs or material strips of the Z-fold strip 21 arebounded, on the one hand, by the Z-fold edge 23 and, on the other hand,by folding lines 27 as a transition into the end wall 16 and/or by afolding line 28 as the transition into the outer leg 26. The latter isrespectively the top part of front wall 11, rear wall 12 and side walls13 and 14.

In order to connect the border strips, namely outer strip 17 and innerstrip 18, the spots of glue 19, 20 are spaced apart from one another onthe outside of the inner strip 18. The top spot of glue 20 is located inthe region of the Z-fold strip 21 and is intended to connect the innerstrip 18 to the outer strip 17. In order to overcome the problempresented by multi-layered construction, the outer strip 17 is provided,in the region of the Z-fold strip 21, with a cutout 29 which ispositioned and designed such that the spot of glue 20 produces aconnection between the outer leg 26 of the inner strip 18 and the outerleg 26 of the outer strip 17. For this purpose, the cutout 29 extends inthe region of intermediate layers, namely in the region of the inner leg24 and of the intermediate leg 25 of the Z-fold strip 21 assigned to theouter strip 17.

The cutout or opening 29 is designed and arranged in a specific manner.As can be seen from FIG. 8 in particular, the cutout or opening 29 isenclosed (bounded) in its entirety by a rounded contour or periphery,namely by a corresponding round punch cut 30. This is elongate, more orless oval, in the direction transverse to the Z-fold strip 21.

A further special feature is that a piece of material or punched segment31 severed by the punch cut 30 remains connected to the blank 10 via oneor more residual connections 32. In order to release and/or to form thecutout 29, the punched segment 31 is folded over, with the result thatit butts against the inside of the blank 10 alongside the cutout 29(FIG. 10). The cutout 29 is located at the border of the blank 10,namely the outer strip 17, and extends approximately over the entirewidth of the Z-fold strip 21, that is to say it covers the inner leg 24and intermediate leg 25 of the Z-fold.

A further special feature is constituted by the production of a blank10. The blanks 10 are severed from a continuous material web 33. Firstof all, the punch cuts 30 are made in the planar material web 33, to beprecise in an exact position in relation to the blank 10 which is to beproduced. The punch cuts 30 are preferably made in each case in theregion of the transversely directed severing cut 34 which is carried outsubsequently (illustrated as a transversely directed perforation line).The punch cuts 30 are located outside the centre of the material web 33,namely in the region of the Z-fold strip 21 which is to be produced. Thepunching is positioned such that, as seen in the conveying direction ofthe material web 33, the residual connection 32 is located to the rearof the cutout 29. The punch cut 30 is configured such that, in thisregion, a rectilinear, transversely directed section is formed in orderto provide a corresponding folding line when the punched segment 31 isfolded over.

Following the punching, during the conveying movement, the punchedsegment 31 is folded out of the region of the cutout 29, to be precisecounter to the conveying direction of the material web 33, until itbutts against the material web 33. For this purpose, a specific foldingmeasure is taken, and this can be gathered from FIG. 7 in particular.The material web 33 is deflected in this region, to be precise in thiscase about an obtuse angle over a deflecting roller 35. The material web33 follows the contour of the deflecting roller 35, while, on account ofthe material properties, the punched segment 31 is directed transverselyand/or approximately tangentially. A stationary folding element, in thiscase a folding roller 36 arranged above the material web 33,automatically folds over the punched segment 31 counter to the conveyingdirection, as a result of the relative movement of the material web 33,into a rearwardly directed position.

As it is conveyed further, the material web 33 is then provided with thefolding strip 21, namely the Z-fold. Thereafter, the blank 10 is dividedoff from the material web 33 by the severing cut 34, the severing cut 34being made eccentrically through the cutout 29. This results in a smallsub-cutout 37 on the rear side of the blank 10 in the region of theZ-fold strip 21.

The blank 10 is then folded around the pack contents, the adhesiveconnection being produced in the region of the side wall 14.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the region of the base wall 15 isof double-layered design, to be precise on account of a double-layeredborder strip 38 of the blank 10. This border strip is likewise providedin the region of the material web 33, to be precise at the same time asthe Z-fold.

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

-   10 Blank-   11 front wall-   12 rear wall-   13 side wall-   14 side wall-   15 base wall-   16 end wall-   17 outer strip-   18 inner strip-   19 spot of glue-   20 spot of glue-   21 z-fold strip-   22 blank strip-   23 z-fold edge-   24 inner leg-   25 intermediate leg-   26 outer leg-   27 folding line-   28 folding line-   29 cutout-   30 punch cut-   31 punched segment-   32 residual connection-   33 material web-   34 severing cut-   35 deflecting roller-   36 folding roller-   37 sub-cutout-   38 border strip

1. A cigarette pack having a blank (10) which encloses the packcontents, which is made of foldable packaging material selected from thegroup consisting of paper, film and cardboard, which is of multi-layereddesign in a sub-region, and which, as a result of folding, has a foldingstrip all the way around the pack, including a Z-fold strip (21) with aninner folding tab connected to an outer folding tab by glue passingthrough an opening (29) in an intermediate tab, wherein: a) the opening(29) is bounded by a punch cut (30) having a contour which is roundedoverall; b) the contour is open at a folding edge of the intermediatetab, and includes a punched segment (31) severed by the punch cut andremaining connected to the blank by one or more residual connections(32); and c) a glue spot (20) is positioned at the inner folding tab inan area of the opening (29).
 2. A cigarette pack having a blank (10)which encloses the pack contents, which is made of foldable packagingmaterial selected from the group consisting of paper, film andcardboard, which is of multi-layered design in a sub-region, and which,as a result of folding, has a folding strip all the way around the pack,including a Z-fold strip (21) with an inner folding tab connected to anouter folding tab by glue passing through an opening (29) in anintermediate tab, wherein: a) the cutout (29) is made in the blank (10)by punching into a longitudinally extending continuous material web (33)of the packaging material by a transversely directed severing cut (34),b) the material web (33) is folded continuously in the longitudinaldirection in order to form a folding strip (21), c) the severing cut(34) for producing the blanks (10) runs through the cutout (29) withopen sub-cutouts of different sizes being formed at one border of theblank (10), and d) the blank (10) is folded about the pack contents insuch a way that the cutout (29) is positioned in the folding strip (21)as intermediate tab being part of the outer folding tab.
 3. A cigarettepack having a blank (10) which encloses the pack contents, which is madeof foldable packaging material selected from the group consisting ofpaper, film and cardboard, which is of multi-layered design in asub-region, and which, as a result of folding, has a folding strip allthe way around the pack, including a Z-fold strip (21) with an innerfolding tab connected to an outer folding tab by glue passing through anopening (29) in an intermediate tab, wherein: a) the cutout (29) in theintermediate tab is bounded by a contour (30) which is rounded overall,b) the cutout (29) is oval, and elongate in a vertical direction of thepack, and c) the cutout (29) is open at a folding edge (23) of theintermediate tab (25) of the blank (10) and is formed from a closedcutout (29) by severing the blank (10) from a material web (33) by asevering cut through the closed cutout (29).
 4. The pack according toclaim 1, characterized in that the opening (29) is oval, and elongate ina vertical direction of the pack.
 5. The pack according to claim 1,characterized in that the blank (10) has the opening (29) in a region ofan outer strip (17) for forming a pack side wall (14).
 6. The packaccording to claim 2, characterized in that a piece of material orpunched segment (31), which has been punched out of the blank (10) bythe punch cut (30) in order to form the opening (29), is connected tothe blank (10) via a residual connection (32) and is folded out of theregion of the opening (29).